Ian Garrone started Far West Fungi- out of his garage- 25 years ago to introduce America to the wide variety of edible fungi. Today, the Garrone family farm 60,000 square feet of greenhouses filled with organic, sawdust-based mushrooms. They sell over 40 different types of mushroom at their San Francisco store, a relatively rare offering, given that button mushrooms account for about 87% of all domestic mushroom sales.

Garrone believes that mushrooms can add balance to your diet, serving as an ideal meat substitute. Mushrooms that grow on trees (the type grown at the Far West Fungi farm) are also considered medicinal.

Garrone didn't get into the business to help save the world, but somehow he's managed to help save his corner of the world. After San Francisco's last oil spill he helped provide an indigenous strain of oyster mushroom to a bioremediation project.